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| The Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday warned that they would target Pakistan and the US to avenge the killing of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden by US special forces. |
WASHINGTON: Al-Qaeda on Friday vowed to avenge
the death of Osama bin Laden and urged Muslims to rise up against the
United States, as rallies against the killing of the 9/11 mastermind in a
US raid flared in the Islamic world.
"We
call upon our Muslim people in Pakistan, on whose land Sheikh Osama was
killed, to rise up and revolt to cleanse this shame," the terror
network said in a statement released by the SITE monitoring group.
Confirming
Osama's death for the first time, Al-Qaeda urged Pakistani Muslims "to
cleanse their country from the filth of the Americans who spread
corruption in it."
In the statement posted on jihadist Internet forums, the Islamist group
proclaimed its Saudi-born founder a "martyr," adding he had "terrified
all the nations of disbelief."
The White House swiftly said it was on alert for security threats as Al-Qaeda also vowed to release an audio tape made by their inspirational leader just a week before he was shot dead on Monday by US commandos in Pakistan.
"We are quite aware of the potential for activity and are highly vigilant on that matter for that reason," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
US President Barack Obama was on Friday to meet privately with members of the elite commando team who carried out the risky helicopter-borne raid of the fortified compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad where Osama had been hiding.
The meeting comes a day after Obama laid a wreath at Ground Zero, the site where the felled World Trade Centre once stood, in a sombre moment aimed at bringing closure to Americans still haunted by the September 11, 2011 attacks.
And he vowed that Osama's death had proved America will never fail to bring terrorists to justice, saying "when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."
The White House has been eager to avoid any triumphalism over the elimination of the world's most wanted man, blamed for the 2001 attacks in which almost 3,000 people were killed, in a bid to avoid whipping up Muslim anger.
But Al-Qaeda vowed the blood of Osama "is more precious to us and to every Muslim than to be wasted in vain".
And on the traditional day of prayers, hundreds of Islamists rallied in Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey to vow revenge for the death of Osama, who had inspired militant Muslims for decades.
In Abbottabad, just 50 kilometres from the capital Islamabad, where Osama was finally tracked down after a years-long manhunt, police marshalled a rally of about 1,000 men.
Setting fire to tyres and blocking a main road, the protesters yelled: "Down, down USA!" and "Terrorist, terrorist, USA terrorist."
Hundreds took to the streets in the insurgency-riven Pakistani city of Quetta near the Afghan border to chant "Long live Osama" and call for holy war against America.
Islamists also rallied in Cairo, but were stopped by soldiers about a block from the US embassy, and resorted to shouting "leave, leave" and "lower the (American) flag."
About 200 people, including a small group of veiled women, also gathered outside an Istanbul mosque after Friday prayers carrying pictures of Osama.
One banner in English read: "We will not forget the crimes of US and Israel."
Lebanese radical cleric Omar Bakri, who hailed the 9/11 hijackers as the "magnificent 19," has called for prayers to mourn Osama in Lebanon and outside US embassies around the world.
"We call on our followers in Europe, Canada and especially Britain to pray for his soul outside American embassies," Bakri, who was based in Britain for nearly two decades, told AFP.
Intelligence seized during Monday's operation showed the architect of the 9/11 attacks had remained closely involved in Al-Qaeda despite hiding away from the outside world.
The network had even been mulling strikes on US trains on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, US officials said on Thursday.
It is not yet clear how far Osama's death is likely to affect Al-Qaeda's operational capabilities and its ability to follow through on its threats. And Friday's protests were only limited in scale.
After days of questions in Washington over how the 9/11 architect found shelter, Pakistan's military hit back demanding the US cut its troop presence in the country to a "minimum".
But former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf blamed the failure to detect Osama on the "incompetence" of his country's intelligence services.
"One can draw only two conclusions," Musharraf told National Public Radio.
"One is complicity from our intelligence agencies. The second is incompetence and I strongly believe in the latter," Musharraf said. "I cannot imagine that there was complicity."
In another sign of potential lapses by the Pakistani intelligence services, the Washington Post reported that the CIA had maintained a safe house in Abbottabad undetected for several months to spy on Osama's compound.
The close-up spying operation allowed them to draw up a "pattern of life" for the occupants inside, the paper said.
Obama's meeting on Friday with the commandos was to take place at the Fort Campbell army base in Kentucky, an official said.
The president "will have the opportunity to privately thank some of the special operators involved in the operation," the official said.
The Obama administration has been forced to defend the raid's legality after acknowledging Osama was unarmed when he was shot dead.
But new details have been released of the operation after conflicting accounts from the White House. The SEALs also found an AK-47 and a pistol in his room, a US official told AFP Thursday.
"He had weapons in his room, more than one," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He was not compliant. He did not surrender."
The official said the commandos encountered just one armed man at the compound - Osama's courier - who opened fire near the start of the nearly 40-minute operation.
US media reported the courier was killed along with his wife in a guest house adjacent to the main residence where Osama was hiding.
At the larger three-story building, commandos shot and killed the courier's brother, who reportedly had one hand behind his back. US officials have said Osama's son was also killed in the raid.
The White House swiftly said it was on alert for security threats as Al-Qaeda also vowed to release an audio tape made by their inspirational leader just a week before he was shot dead on Monday by US commandos in Pakistan.
"We are quite aware of the potential for activity and are highly vigilant on that matter for that reason," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
US President Barack Obama was on Friday to meet privately with members of the elite commando team who carried out the risky helicopter-borne raid of the fortified compound in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad where Osama had been hiding.
The meeting comes a day after Obama laid a wreath at Ground Zero, the site where the felled World Trade Centre once stood, in a sombre moment aimed at bringing closure to Americans still haunted by the September 11, 2011 attacks.
And he vowed that Osama's death had proved America will never fail to bring terrorists to justice, saying "when we say we will never forget, we mean what we say."
The White House has been eager to avoid any triumphalism over the elimination of the world's most wanted man, blamed for the 2001 attacks in which almost 3,000 people were killed, in a bid to avoid whipping up Muslim anger.
But Al-Qaeda vowed the blood of Osama "is more precious to us and to every Muslim than to be wasted in vain".
And on the traditional day of prayers, hundreds of Islamists rallied in Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey to vow revenge for the death of Osama, who had inspired militant Muslims for decades.
In Abbottabad, just 50 kilometres from the capital Islamabad, where Osama was finally tracked down after a years-long manhunt, police marshalled a rally of about 1,000 men.
Setting fire to tyres and blocking a main road, the protesters yelled: "Down, down USA!" and "Terrorist, terrorist, USA terrorist."
Hundreds took to the streets in the insurgency-riven Pakistani city of Quetta near the Afghan border to chant "Long live Osama" and call for holy war against America.
Islamists also rallied in Cairo, but were stopped by soldiers about a block from the US embassy, and resorted to shouting "leave, leave" and "lower the (American) flag."
About 200 people, including a small group of veiled women, also gathered outside an Istanbul mosque after Friday prayers carrying pictures of Osama.
One banner in English read: "We will not forget the crimes of US and Israel."
Lebanese radical cleric Omar Bakri, who hailed the 9/11 hijackers as the "magnificent 19," has called for prayers to mourn Osama in Lebanon and outside US embassies around the world.
"We call on our followers in Europe, Canada and especially Britain to pray for his soul outside American embassies," Bakri, who was based in Britain for nearly two decades, told AFP.
Intelligence seized during Monday's operation showed the architect of the 9/11 attacks had remained closely involved in Al-Qaeda despite hiding away from the outside world.
The network had even been mulling strikes on US trains on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, US officials said on Thursday.
It is not yet clear how far Osama's death is likely to affect Al-Qaeda's operational capabilities and its ability to follow through on its threats. And Friday's protests were only limited in scale.
After days of questions in Washington over how the 9/11 architect found shelter, Pakistan's military hit back demanding the US cut its troop presence in the country to a "minimum".
But former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf blamed the failure to detect Osama on the "incompetence" of his country's intelligence services.
"One can draw only two conclusions," Musharraf told National Public Radio.
"One is complicity from our intelligence agencies. The second is incompetence and I strongly believe in the latter," Musharraf said. "I cannot imagine that there was complicity."
In another sign of potential lapses by the Pakistani intelligence services, the Washington Post reported that the CIA had maintained a safe house in Abbottabad undetected for several months to spy on Osama's compound.
The close-up spying operation allowed them to draw up a "pattern of life" for the occupants inside, the paper said.
Obama's meeting on Friday with the commandos was to take place at the Fort Campbell army base in Kentucky, an official said.
The president "will have the opportunity to privately thank some of the special operators involved in the operation," the official said.
The Obama administration has been forced to defend the raid's legality after acknowledging Osama was unarmed when he was shot dead.
But new details have been released of the operation after conflicting accounts from the White House. The SEALs also found an AK-47 and a pistol in his room, a US official told AFP Thursday.
"He had weapons in his room, more than one," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He was not compliant. He did not surrender."
The official said the commandos encountered just one armed man at the compound - Osama's courier - who opened fire near the start of the nearly 40-minute operation.
US media reported the courier was killed along with his wife in a guest house adjacent to the main residence where Osama was hiding.
At the larger three-story building, commandos shot and killed the courier's brother, who reportedly had one hand behind his back. US officials have said Osama's son was also killed in the raid.
The Long War Journal
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